American Jewish Archives Journal, Volume 64, Numbers 1 & 2

a critical stance on Israeli policy and therefore should be excluded from what
they deemed a pro-Jewish, pro-Israel event. Kaufman, founder and former
director of the film festival, argued that the “coordinated deluge of internet
rage from all over the world” calling for the film’s denouncement and the withholding
of donations to the San Francisco Jewish Community Federation for
partially funding the festival threatened to end fruitful conversations on Jewish
identity. The occasionally defensive tone used when narrating or interviewing
highlights Kaufman’s personal connection to this debate yet detracts from an
equal understanding of the dispute’s two sides.
Concerns about intermarriage and a declining Jewish birthrate are subsequently
examined via a discussion of Taglit-Birthright Israel, a free, ten-day
social and educational excursion to Israel for Jewish young adults. Between Two
Worlds opportunely questions Birthright’s positive effects on Jewish identity
following the program’s ten-year anniversary, since its inception in 2000.
Snitow and Kaufman suggest that the youngest generation of American Jews
is opting for alternative identities that belie Birthright’s aims. Addressing the
recent scholarship on Birthright and ethnic tourism published prior to 2011
would have made for a richer, more nuanced discussion of the crucial identity
concerns being tackled in this documentary. 1
The filmmakers seamlessly connect the personal story of Bernard Kaufman,
Deborah’s father, with the building of a new Museum of Tolerance on contested
Jerusalem land to explore the Holocaust’s legacy and the multiple interpretations
of the historical past. The documentary ably questions whether the Holocaust
serves as a prime determinant in shaping Jewish identity and how lessons from
the Holocaust should be used to frame current and future moral issues. In
excluding a discussion of the actual progress of the museum’s construction,
Snitow and Kaufman elected to focus this specific conversation within the
larger documentary’s emphasis on Jewish identity formation, maintenance,
and reinvention.
Following an exploration of the Kaufman family tree, viewers learn that
Alan Snitow’s mother used to be a communist. What then, posit the directors,
is the connection, if any, between Judaism and liberalism and even Judaism
and radicalism? An interview with historian Tony Michels reveals that there is
nothing inherent in Judaism that lends itself to radicalism, but specific events
and places in history cause many Jews to support liberal causes. This discussion
nicely segues into the documentary’s final identity issue on Jewish dissent,
revisiting the film’s opening sequence on defining what is Jewish and who in
the community can decide identity boundaries. Snitow and Kaufman recorded
the last night of public testimony surrounding a 2010 motion to override a
veto against divestment from Israel at the University of California, Berkeley.
In highlighting the communal divide where Jewish proponents could be found
on both sides of the debate, the filmmakers supported the students’ passion for
Book Reviews • 171